Battle for the Throne

The challenge

This diorama was created for the Battles Through History show, an event celebrating military history across every era.

Rather than depicting a famous battle, I wanted to explore something every civilisation has shared.

Not conquest.  Not conflict.

Just the universal experience of standing in a queue and hoping it starts moving soon.

Building the scene

Each figure represents a different period of history, carefully chosen to create a recognisable journey through time.

Although the costumes, weapons and cultures change dramatically, their body language is instantly familiar. Shopping bags are swapped from one hand to the other. Weight shifts from one foot to the next. Everyone quietly accepts that the queue will move... eventually.

The reveal

The bright blue Portaloo doesn't exactly hide the punchline.

Instead, it invites you to look along the queue, where centuries of history are standing shoulder to shoulder, all waiting for exactly the same reason.

History remembers kings, empires and great battles. It rarely remembers the queue for the loo. 

Battle for the Throne.

Behind the scenes

Each character began as an individually created AI-assisted 3D model before being 3D printed, painted and brought together into a single scene.

The challenge was making six characters from different worlds feel as though they genuinely belonged together, while keeping each one's own identity intact.

Sometimes the smallest stories are the ones everyone recognises.